1-6, 6-4, Tie!

Denny kicked my butt in the first set! I was awful…the net was my best friend for some horrible reason! But after 45 minutes of playing…Denny started getting a little winded and I came back strong on the second set! We had a great time in the sun…such a different day than yesterday when it was in the 60s…this ‘fall season’ thing is so new to me, we don’t have anything like it in Florida:)!

The Colorado Springs OTC Open

It’s on like Donkey Kong! The time is set for high noon today! The location has been agreed upon and the cans are ready to be opened!
What???:)
My coach, Denny, and I have a tennis match planned for today! I’ve been looking for people who play tennis out here and finally talked to Denny about it! I went yesterday to the courts to find a backboard…it’s been a LONG time since I’ve hit a tennis ball and I needed to make sure that I was still able to. After I hit on the backboard for a bit I was talking to an older gentleman on the courts and we ended up volleying for a few minutes. I had to cut it short because I needed to save some of my good shots for today:)!
This morning we drove down to the Colorado College swimming pool (like we have been for 2 weeks because the OTC pool is being drained) but ALL the doors were locked and no one was in the building…the entire school is on break and it’s all deserted!
I was SOOO depressed that I didn’t get to swim this morning…that threw my WHOLE season off…I’m done! (If you can’t hear the sarcasm dripping from that last sentence…you should read it again!!)
Now I’m off to Wal-Mart to pick up a few cans of balls and some laundry detergent. I will blog about the tennis match afterwards (you might need to give me a few hours for recovery time because I’m sure that Denny plans on running me all around the court:)!

The Colorado Springs INCLINE!

On Sunday, instead of going on a boring 1 hour 20 minute run, I finally got a chance to walk the Colorado Springs Incline!! I have wanted to attempt it since I moved here in May; I just never got around to actually doing it! You can see the ‘scar’ in the mountain side from almost anywhere in Colorado Springs…and I have heard horror stories about how HARD it is.
Well, now I can tell you the truth…it is VERY hard to climb! My legs were burning from the first few steps…and I had about 2,000 more steps to go! It starts off very easy and builds into an almost vertical scramble. There are steps made from railroad ties the whole way up…it never turns into a gravel scramble. (It was once an actual Railway up the side of the mountain called the Mt. Manitou Scenic Incline Railway)…hence the huge logs of railroad ties that make climbing it possible!
I went with Jasmine and Daimeon (a new friend at the OTC, he was hired by USA Cycling as the new mechanic…I think it was a good idea to befriend him right away:) free bike work) haha!! My method was the ‘slow and steady pace’ while Jaz and Daimeon used the ‘sprint, rest, sprint, rest’ method.
We started a bit late in the day…around 5:30pm. The temperature was dropping a bit so we each brought a sweatshirt for the trip back down (we knew we wouldn’t be using it too much on the way up!). The top of the incline met a trail called the Barr Trail. They both started at the same spot in town, but the Barr is more of a switch-back gradual path that continues on to the top of Pike’s Peak (that would be a LONG hike!). Instead of going back down the incline (which would be scary and dangerous) we chose to descend on the Barr trail. It was about 6:30pm now, we were on the East side of the mountains and the sun was almost completely down. Our descent was a race against the light…we definitely lost the race, it was completely dark when we got back to the car. Luckily we made it without any bad steps or slides and headed back to the OTC for dinner.
Next time (and I’m so excited about doing it again) we will plan for better light:)! Maybe I’ll attempt the hike to Pike’s Peak one day…probably NOT during race season though! I didn't carry my camera on this trip but I found some photos on-line and have included them below so you can get an idea of the incline...when I take some photos there will be people struggling to climb!

You can see the 'scar' of the incline from almost anwhere in Colorado Springs.

From the top of the incline...looking at how far UP I have climbed!!

From the bottom of the incline...looking at all the steps that I've got to walk up!

Saturday Recap

I was all done with my training for today by 3pm…but don’t think that means it was easy or short! I started at 8am with a 3 hour bike ride around Colorado Springs keeping an up-tempo pace the whole time. As soon as I got back to the training center I had to quickly change into my running gear and head out on a 20 minute run at race pace (on the treadmill, 4x3 min @ 10K pace w/2 min recovery). After grabbing a quick shower and lunch, I headed to the pool for swim practice…it was an intense session in the water with 75% at race pace (800pull hard, 4x300@3:20; 5x200@2:15)! In summary: I am TIRED and looking forward to relaxing for the rest of the day by watching a movie, reading a book, or doing some arts and crafts.
Yesterday, Jasmine and I bought some simple watercolor paints and special paper. I will be the first to admit that my painting skills are pretty low…but I made an attempt at a blue parrot in flight and it turned out okay:)! Next on my list is a flower or something else nature-y! I’ve also been playing with origami paper that I brought back from Japan…my desk is covered in random folded paper (lots of birds and flowers and a few frogs).
Tomorrow we have a huge group of Girl Scouts coming on to the campus and I have volunteered to be one of the athletes that talks to them…I’m not entirely sure what to say, but I can’t go wrong with encouragement and positive stories.
Check out the article on Slowtwitch.com about the American Triathlon development group and our great results at World Champs…they mention me a bit:)! "The Pipeline"

Altitude Complaining

I realize that this is the second post in a row that starts off with complaining…but I promise that I will finish it on a more positive note!
I HATE ALTITUDE!! I was only at sea level for 1 week in Japan at World Champs but now I have to go through all the readjustments back in Colorado Springs! I’m at swim practice and I’m DYING for oxygen…it is short course but I’m breathing off the walls and almost every stroke in between walls…I feel like an age-grouper (nothing against age-groupers:)! They say that you notice the altitude the most in the sport that you are best at (duh…no wonder I’m dying in the pool) and only notice it a little bit in the other sports.
Yesterday I had a great bike ride, on my own, in the middle of the day…I climbed my LEAST favorite hill/mountain in Colorado Springs: Cheyenne Mountain…but I climbed it slow and at my own pace instead of the breakneck pace that we always do when we climb it in a group. At the top, we usually just turn around and go down the same way we came up…but I took the gravel trail at the top that goes along the edge of the mountain to the top of my MOST favorite climb: Gold Camp…so I did a little off roading in the middle of my ride!
After struggling through practice this morning and a short refreshing nap…I am about to get ready for a little bike/run/bike group workout. We are dropping our run stuff off with our coaches…biking for 1.5 hours to Bear Creek Park…our coaches are meeting us there with our run stuff…we run for 40 HARD min at the park…then ride home easy to cool down! I’ve got to go get ready to train! Later Gators(

JET LAG to the N^th Degree!!!!

It has been 6 days since I returned to the OTC in Colorado Springs after my trip to Japan…I STILL have MAJOR jet lag! It is incredible! I can’t believe how bad I feel when I get up in the morning…it takes all my effort to just get out of bed and start my day when all I really want to do is go back to sleep. It must have been a really long time since my last trip over 5 time zones…because I can NOT remember feeling this bad…I guess my last trip was to South Africa and Dubai in November but the trip back to the USA was to the West and the saying is that traveling to the East is the worst…I have to believe whoever came up with that saying:)!
On Friday morning I woke up feeling the best I have since returning...but then I managed to screw all that up last night by staying up until 1 am (I have a really good reason for doing that). In Beijing, China the World Cup race was going on and the live broadcast of the race was from 11pm-1am last night…how could I possibly NOT stay up to cheer on my girls!? Jasmine had a great swim and bike…she was in the chase pack and looking great but didn’t have a strong run (probably b/c of all the HILLS on the bike!) and Jenna also had an OK race! Our Elite men and women also had great races…Hunter won gold in the men’s and Shelia won silver in the women’s.
The best thing about this week has been its focus on recovery…all my practices have been easy (and that’s a good thing because I could barely do the easy ones!) and I have spent most of the time taking naps and catching up on little things. I’ve been shopping a few times as a reward for having a good World Champs (gotta reward yourself(!) and also shopping for Birthday things for Jasmine…she turns 20 on the day after she gets back from China (I have to guess that she’s NOT going to be feeling like celebrating too much!)
On another positive note from World Champs…One of the qualifying criteria for the Bronze National Triathlon Team is a top 10 finish in the U23 World Champs. The National Teams are gold, silver, and bronze…gold requiring the highest/best results in the world and providing the most about of funding…but as a member of the Bronze team I am now getting a little bit of funding from USA Triathlon to travel to races next year! It will help out with traveling to the big World Cup races that I have to start racing to get REAL international experience. At the end of October, I am going to Cancun, Mexico for my first World Cup race…it will be my last race for the year but it is another great course for me (FLAT, FLAT, FLAT) and Barb Lindquist and I will be working together at the front! More on this race later…now I’ve got about 6 weeks to go back into serious training and get ready to race with the BIG girls! That starts with a 2.5 hour ride that I need to get ready for…of course all I feel like doing now is taking a nap…I’ll keep you posted on which desire wins(!

I finally had some company in the race:)...Hewitt was the eventual race winner. In the last lap of the bike, the three of us gained 1 minute on the chase pack (that allowed me to finish in the top 10!!)

5 1/2 laps out of 7 laps on the bike it was just me...out front on my own! I think this photo is awesome:)!

Wow...that's a REALLY close-up photo...I think this is in the middle of the two swim laps in the race...we had to run up a ramp and then dive back into the yucky water for our second lap.

The start of the women's U23 World Championship race...that is my lower half closest to the camer (I was able to get a lucky EDGE starting slot!)

This is Elizabeth Brackett and I in Chicago after the race...she was my homestay host for the weekend...Elizabeth won her age group in the race by 45 minutes!

Here I am on the bike on August 28th at the Chicago Triathlon...on my way to a 10th place finish!

World Champ Results

Click here (http://www.triathlon.org/?call=TVRFdw==&id=NTgx&keep=sh#) for results from all the races at the World Champs in Gamagori, Japan.
*The 'results' link is on the left column of the web page*
There are also some great race photos...there are a few photos of me while I was solo off the front (but once the run started I'm old news:)!

9th Place at World Championships!!!!!

My race yesterday was really awesome! To quickly summarize, I had a really great swim, of course I was out front right from the start...when I got out of the water and ran to my bike, Libby told me that I had put 1 min and 44 seconds on the next swimmer!! (later I found out that the 2nd girl out of the water was JASMINE!!) I felt really strong on the bike right from the start...I hauled butt and managed to stay solo for 5 1/2 laps...on the 6th lap I was caught by 2 girls from New Zealand. Unfortunatly, right when they caught me Denny yelled that there had been a crash in the chase pack and Jasmine was down and out of the race. I was really depressed to hear that her race was over because she was in perfect position for a top 3 finish...a lot more likely for her since she can kick my butt on the run!! but I had to refocus and finish my race...for the last lap I worked with the Kiwis and we increased our lead over the chase pack to 1 min and 20 seconds. It was incredibly HOT by the time we started running (about noon) and there were NO trees on the course...I knew that paying attention to how much water I drank would be really important to finish strong. I knew what place I was at the end of the bike and I kept counting the girls who passed me...at 2 laps of the run I was sitting in 7th place (all the incredible runners from the chase pack had already blown by me)...at the 3rd lap of the run I was sitting in 9th place and I buckled down and managed to hold that position all the way to the finish!!!
I was so proud that I had stayed cool and eaten enough to finish without going past my `redline`. It was a great race...I could not be happier with my whole race and especially my top ten finish! On a sadder note...Jasmine was not able to finish the bike because her chainstay on her bike broke in two...Jenna was unable to finish due to vomiting up the motor-boat-oil that she drank in the swimming water (the water that we swam in was completely disgusting, smelly and green)...Michelle finished 16th to round out the U23 American Girls. Our U23 boys had fantastic results...Jarrod WON!!! Manny and Matt both crashed on the bike (in unrelated crashes) but they were both able to finish the race...Brendan had a solid performance also. Our Junior girls had a 15th place finish and 2 others in the 30s...Our Junior boys also did fantastic...Stephen WON!!! The other two junior boys finished in the top 30 out of 72 racers. The Elite women just finished their race...it was incredibly exciting...Laura Bennett held off the fastest runner in the race for the Bronze Medal!! The Elite men just dove into the water as I am typing this and I hope they they do as well as our other boys!! GO USA!!!
(I hope this blog does not post like the previous one in all blocks...sorry about that:):)

OWWWW!

So I was enjoying a fantastic massage yesterday after all our training sessions...I was thanking Diana for the great massage and leaving the room so Jasmine could get her massage...I opened the door and started walking out but I missed the opening and rammed my big toe into the lower corner!!! PAINFUL! I've got a nice big slice in the front of my big toe...left a bit of blood on the door...the only good part was I was still in Diana's room and she had one of those big medical bags so I was bandaged up in about 3 seconds!!
Today we went for a short (very short:) jog outside the hotel. After a quick shower we grabbed some b-fast and after I finish this blog I am going to grab my biking gear for another trip to the bike course. We rode it about 3 times yesterday but I feel like getting more comfortable on all the turns (all 124 of them!!!!!).
After biking we will come back to the hotel to get in matching USA clothes and go to the pre-race meeting...should be fun. Oh yeah, after the meeting at the race course we are going to swim in the motor boat stadium (by-the-way, upon further observation, it is salt water!!! and it's full of motor boat gas and stuff...and not lacking in the floating garbage department!) So much for the dream of a clean, fun swim. With all that cleanliness in mind...Diana provided me with a rubber glove to tape over my injured toe! haha Lets hope no infections start on the day before the World Championships (but like Jenna mentioned...I'm not a retard and going to spend a week in Beijing, China after this!!) haha
I'm leaving now b/c Jenna wants her computer back and I really have no other news to tell ya'll 'bout. Peace out:)

More From Japan

So we finally got to ride the bike course today...and it is as technical as it looks on the map....after the first turn, we do some more turns, and then a few more, and then we repeat the same course 7 times!!! The typhoon has passed us completely and it is now SUNNY and HOT! We were biking on the course today at the same time that we will be racing (the U23 women's race starts at 10:45am) and I was sweating when I was going easy. I had a minor equipment malfunction...my right bike shoe cleat was not locking into the pedal and I could not get any power on the up-pedal b/c my foot would come flying of my pedal...fortunatly, we have amazing bike mechanics here and Dave was nice enough to solve the problem when we got back to the hotel.
Other than the bike ride today...we registered at the race course, picked up our goodie bags (not too much other than an XL shirt inside)...found out what # we are (I am #40)...and then came back for lunch (I had some interesting chicken and rice:) and then we headed off to swim practice. Finally, today I remembered to put sunscreen on and I didn't get fried at the outdoor pool!
The rest of today will be taken up with a shower...a massage...a pre-race meeting with my coach...a U23 team dinner at an american restaurant...and then more wonderful sleep:) Tomorrow will be the day before the race...wish me luck (and luck to all my teammates) and all that jaz:)!!! Go USA!

27 hours!!

It took a total of 27 hours to get from my room in Colorado Springs to my hotel room in Gamagori, Japan! That was a lot of traveling! I stayed awake for most of it (a few short naps on the plane) but the sports science people told us to stay awake for as long as possible and then sleep when we got to the hotel...well, the 'sleep at the hotel' part wasn't very hard! We were exausted when we got here...I took a quick shower and slept like a rock for 10 hours! Jaz and I are sharing a room and we both woke up this morning around 7am...went upstairs for breakfast...and then explored our surroundings. As a team...we went for a 30 min jog at 10ish, an hour swim at 12ish, and a 50 min bike at 3ish. My body feels nice and loose after all that time getting the blood flowing. I'm kinda on the local time...it's about 5pm here and I am just starting to get sleepy. Finding 'normal' food is a bit hard b/c we are in a very small city (the larger areas have Americanized stuff) but I've packed munchies for emergencies and there are a few stores that have some things that I might eat:).
Right now I am relaxing in Jenna and Michelle's room (right next to Jaz and my room) because Jenna has a computer with internet access. The TV is on a station that is reporting the devistation in Lousiana and Mississippi from the hurricane so we know that the Japanesse care.
We heard today that the U23 race is NOT going to be broadcast live on the ITU site...but we are going to try to talk to some people in charge and see if they will change that because we all have a lot of people at home that would love to hear our races live!
I will keep you all posted on things here...but right now I want a nap:)

I'M IN JAPAN!!

THIS MORNING I WOKE UP AT 4:30AM, TOOK A QUICK SHOWER, GRABBED A TON OF LUGGAGE AND CAUGHT THE SHUTTLE TO THE AIRPORT. THE TRIATHLON TEAM FLEW FROM COS TO SAN FRANCISCO, WE LANDED AROUND 8:30 AND HAD A 5 HOUR LAYOVER WHICH WE SPENT PLAYING POKER (I WON $5!!) AT 1:00PM WE BOARDED THE FLIGHT TO NAGOYA, JAPAN...11HOURS LATER WE LANDED!!! AND HERE I AM...AT A COMPUTER OUTSIDE THE INTERNATIONAL ARRIVAL TERMINAL (TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO TURN OFF THE CAPS LOCK ON THIS JAPANESE KEYBOARD:) I NEED A SHOWER AND A CHANGE OF CLOTHES! THE FLIGHT WAS UNEVENTFUL...I WATCHED A FEW MOVIES, READ A BIT OF A BOOK, SLEPT FOR A FEW HOURS, AND DID SOME STRETCHING IN THE BACK OF THE PLANE TO STAY LOOSE. ALL OUR LUGGAGE ARRIVED UNSCATHED AND THE TRIATHLON ORGANIZATION ARRANGED A BIG TRUCK TO TAKE ALL THE BIKES INTO GAMAGORI...WE ARE WAITING A FEW HOURS FOR MORE TRIATHLITES TO ARRIVE AND THEN PILING ONTO A BUS FOR THE 3 HOUR DRIVE TO GAMAGORI. HOPEFULLY I WILL GET MORE CHANCES TO GET ONLINE...IF NOT...MY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TRIATHLON RACE IS ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH AT NOONISH (JAPAN TIME)...THE USA TEAM LOOKS AWESOME AND WE ARE READY TO KICK SOME BUTT!! LATER GATORS!

Erica Rose and I after swimming the 10K Open Water race in July at the World Championships!! We are a little bit water-logged:)

Chicago Triathlon

About 10 years ago, my whole family (Dad, Mom, Dustin, and I) loaded into our big truck and drove up to Chicago to race the Chicago Triathlon. It was a 17ish hour drive…with 4 bikes and lots of food and miscellaneous stuff jammed into the truck with the 4 of us…it was not one of the best ways to do a family trip. Fortunately, we got to Chicago safe and got ready to kick butt in the race. Sunday morning arrives and it’s a bit windy on Lake Michigan creating a bit of a choppy swim course in the harbor…to the McLarty family’s dismay the race director decides all age-group racers will only do half the swim course (the pros got to swim the full 1500 meters but we only swam 750 meters)!!!
Other than that, I don’t remember much of the race…I probably had fun and had a decent finish…but I left with a bad taste about the race. So this year…as a Professional triathlete…I decided to participate in the Chicago Triathlon again. Another key factor in that decision was the $500 for the first male & female pro to exit the water…how I can say no to easy money :)!?!
On Friday, August 26th, I woke up early and drove to the Denver Airport. (From the training center, we can get a shuttle to the Colorado Springs Airport…but my flight was cheaper out of Denver so I had to drive myself.) I flew from Denver to Chicago and was met at the airport by Elizabeth Brackett, my home stay for the weekend. We had been writing e-mails back-and-forth for a few weeks before the race so I was looking forward to meeting her. (Quick back-story: Elizabeth is a news reporter who has been doing triathlons for 13 years and she was also entered in the Chicago Tri this weekend…Elizabeth also has 3 grandkids!!)
We drove to her apartment (overlooking the lake, by-the-way) and I went to work on getting my bike out of the box and putting it back together. Then I got a tour of the Lake Shore Park and best places to swim in the lake. For dinner on Friday night we drove into the city to a friend’s house for a fun BBQ. After eating way too much great foods, I fell asleep like a rock!
Saturday morning started out with a fantastic swim in the lake…it was about 74 degrees…I can’t think of anyway better to wake up than a 30 minute swim in the clearest, fresh water ever! After breakfast we hopped on our bikes and rode on the Lake Shore bike path up to the race course and to the host hotel to pick up our race packets and check out the HUGE sports expo. I sampled all the sports bars and stuff that was on display…yummy expo! Elizabeth then gave me a quick bike tour of downtown Chicago and we grabbed lunch at a café before biking back home. At 6:30pm, back at the host hotel, I had to attend the pre-race meeting for pros…nothing that I didn’t already know but always good to attend for last minute details! Dinner was at an amazing Italian restaurant with Elizabeth, her husband Peter, and I…lucky lasagna was my pre-race meal!
At 4am the next morning I could hear Peter and Elizabeth leaving for the race site because her race started at 8:24am and the transition area closed at 6am!! Another benefit of being a pro…my race started at 11am and my transition area didn’t OPEN until 9am! I drug myself awake at 8am, ate, got dressed, and rode my bike 6 miles up the path to the race. Part of the run course was on the lake shore path so I got to cheer on some of the early competitors as they finished up their run. After dodging spectators and racers and traffic, I made it in one piece to the transition area and started my pre-race routine.
About this time…MY MOM ARRIVED!! About 2 weeks before Chicago, she called me to say that she bought a cheap ticket up to Chicago on race morning and back home at 6pm after the race! I was so excited to have a cheering section and to have my mom be able to watch me race! She and I walked down to the swim start together…but then I was on my own…it was race time! The water was not cold enough to allow wetsuits (that’s a good thing!) and I had a nice fast swim. I caught some of the pro men who started 3 minutes ahead but I was way in front of the rest of the women (I think by about 1 minute). Fast run to the transition, fast transition, and then I started hammering on the bike…it was NOT draft-legal so I had aerobars and it was a bit windy on the bike course. I felt GREAT, my legs were just spinning away and I only got passed by Barb and Becky (the two best Americans right now) and then right at the end of the bike Samantha McGlone (the best Canadian) went by me!! Of course I still had the WHOLE run still to go…but I was in 4th place and feeling good! And at mile 3 on the run I was still feeling good…but I had 3 more miles to go. My mom was on a rented bike and she was out on the course cheering for me…that was totally awesome because I was in 10th place and the prize money only goes to 10th! (I have been 11th in 3 races this year and I wasn’t going to let it happen again!) So I worked really hard for the last mile and got to the finish still in 10th place!!! It was totally awesome…and Elizabeth won her age group (by 45 minutes!!!)
After the race, we all grabbed some chow…hung around for the awards…gathered stuff from the transition area and then I biked back to the house. I had to say bye-bye to mom because she went for a swim in the lake and then had to catch the train back to the airport for her flight. I did a speedy packing of my bike, showered, and got a ride from Peter to the airport. Thanks a million to my homestay family…I can’t wait to see you next year in Chicago!!